The 10-3-2-1-0 Productivity Trick That'll Make Your Snooze Button a Thing of the Past

The super-successful swear by their daily routines. Whether it’s Sir Richard Branson recommending his long-standing habit of waking up at 5 AM, or author Tim Ferriss telling fans how much of a lift it gives him to make his bed each morning, the right structure to your days can help you achieve incredible things, many business superstars attest.

How to Keep All This Advice Straight

Yup, suggests author and fitness coach Craig Ballantyne. Despite all the chatter about productive mornings, he contends that the perfect daily routine actually starts with bedtime. After all, if you don’t get to sleep at a decent hour and have restful nights, you’re not going to have the energy for whatever it is you choose to do first thing—be it jogging, journaling, or your most important creative work.

“The single most important factor in winning your mornings and owning your days is to get up 15 minutes earlier and work on your number one priority before anyone else is awake. It’s that simple,” he says. But he concedes that’s easier said than done for lots of us.

His solution is something called the 10-3-2-1-0 formula. It’s a simple memory aid that packs a lot of sound sleep and productivity advice into a just a few lines. Here it is:

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